


New Beginnings

by hazellepotter



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Hogwarts, Hogwarts Eighth Year AU, Hogwarts Spring Break, Post Battle of Hogwarts, Post-Canon, Redemption, Second Chances, Shrieking Shack, Spring, Spring Break, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, after the war, spring showers, thunderstorm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-02
Updated: 2019-04-02
Packaged: 2020-01-01 07:01:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18330992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hazellepotter/pseuds/hazellepotter
Summary: Her words of endearment were still new to him, and he could feel his cheeks heat up. He turned his head to his left to see her smiling at him. She looked positively wild with her wet hair sprawled out all around her and her nose dripping wet from the rain. He had never seen anything look so beautiful.





	New Beginnings

The world perplexed Theodore Nott in many ways, but nothing seemed to perplex him as much as Luna Lovegood. She challenged his perspectives with her own unique ones, and she forced him to open his mind to a whole new world after the war. For that, he was grateful. But he was not sure why she thought it was a good idea to run across the Hogwarts grounds in the middle of a thunderstorm during their Spring Break.

"We're in the middle of a thunderstorm, and you want to stop and feel the rain?" He asked her jokingly.

She smiled back at him as she twirled in the rain. Her long hair was sticking to her back and looked so stringy he almost thought it looked like hay. But she didn't care. She didn't have a care in the world.

"Of course I do," she replied, "Isn't it beautiful? That's why I brought you out here. I knew a storm was coming."

A flash of lightning appeared overhead, and Theo pulled his jacket closer to his body. He would never tell Luna, but he was afraid of storms. He always had been since he was a young boy. He couldn't even remember how many times his father told him to get a grip over his fear. 

Luna must of sensed something was off and squinted at him in the heavy downpour as she stopped twirling. 

"You're afraid, aren't you?" She called to him from across the rain.

He just shrugged and tried to take deep breaths, but she walked towards him and linked her arm through his.

"Let's go to the Shrieking Shack. We are closer to it than school, and that way we can stay dry until the storm passes. I shouldn't have brought you out here."

He was about to protest, but another flash of lightning made an appearance. Theo shivered, and Luna pulled him through the rain and toward the Whomping Willow. She knew how to stop it instantly, and they ducked into the tree on the way to the shack. He had heard the rumors; this is where Remus Lupin turned into a werewolf every month while he was a student at Hogwarts. He couldn't imagine living that kind of life.

Once they made it inside the shack, she took off her jacket and laid down in the middle of the dusty floor. The old Theo would have complained about dirtying his suit, but this Theo didn't seem to care. He also slipped his jacket off and joined her on the floor. 

"Looks like we'll be stuck here awhile," he said, "I hope you don't mind that you are missing the storm."

Luna shrugged, "As long as I am with you, I don't care."

Her words of endearment were still new to him, and he could feel his cheeks heat up. He turned his head to his left to see her smiling at him. She looked positively wild with her wet hair sprawled out all around her and her nose dripping wet from the rain. He had never seen anything look so beautiful.

Unlike himself, he confessed, "You're beautiful, Luna Lovegood. People have told you that before, right?"

She chuckled and kept her smile on her face, "If you mean beautiful as _weird_ , then yes."

"I don't think you're weird."

"That's because you're a fellow intellectual."

Theo snorted, "I am only what you call an intellectual so I can survive in this screwed up world."

"But you still look at the world in a different way, that's how I count someone to be an intellectual."

Impulsively, he grabbed her hand. She looked down at their fingers interlocked. A boom of thunder was heard overhead, and he felt his body shake. It was then that she rolled over on her side and wrap her free arm around him.

"It's okay," she comforted him, "You are not alone. It will pass, just like every other bad thing has passed. After this storm, look at it as a new beginning."

Her face was close to his as he glanced down at her. Her head was rested against his shoulder, but she did not break eye contact. It was the first time to him that Luna looked serious and fully present. She was usually off in her own little world. 

"You have a way of making me feel like I have a chance," he whispered to her, "No one has ever made me feel that way before."

She brushed the leftover rain off of his cheek with her free hand, "Of course you have a chance, Theo. We _all_ deserve a chance."

As another rumble of thunder echoed throughout the shack, Theo did something he never expected to do. He kissed her, and this time, he was not shaking from the thunder. He was shaking from his own vulnerability.  He was no longer afraid by it, he was energized. And as she kissed him back, the storm ceased. 


End file.
